THE world’s richest nations, including Britain, are spending 30 times more on their armed forces than on financial support for vulnerable countries to deal with the climate crisis. 

Twenty-three wealthy nations spent $9.45 trillion (£7.9tn) on the military between 2013 and 2021, compared to an estimated $243.9 billion (£204bn) on climate finance, according to a new report by the Transnational Institute and other groups. 

The think tank’s report, which comes as world leaders meet at the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt, claims military spending is accelerating climate breakdown, not only through increasing emissions but by diverting resources away from initiatives to tackle the crisis. 

In 2009, wealthy nations pledged to provide $100bn (£83.9bn) in climate finance annually by 2020 to help vulnerable nations deal with climate change. 

Yet this promise has not been delivered, while global military spending has increased by 20.1 per cent since 2013, the report said. 

Co-author of the report, Nick Buxton of Transnational Institute, said: “This report shows that climate change has become the latest collateral damage of war. 

“The $2.1 trillion of global military spending [in 2021] is diverting money from climate action, increasing emissions and fuelling conflict in the most climate-vulnerable nations.”

He added: “We urgently need to de-escalate tensions and find peaceful solutions to conflicts if we are to defend our planet. There is no secure nation on an unsafe planet.”

The report also found that military spending in the past year has been “super-charged” by the war in Ukraine, with Russia approving a 27 per cent increase on its military since 2021, and the US giving the green light to a record $840bn (£715bn) military budget for 2023. 

“Climate goals have been quickly thrown out of the window when it comes to military objectives,” the report warns, pointing to the British government’s recent decision to shift money from climate finance to partly fund a £1bn military support package for Ukraine. 

Responding to the report, Symon Hill of the Peace Pledge Union, said the findings show that “far from protecting us, recent increases in military spending are literally making us less safe.”

He added that it was “vital” for progressives to oppose any moves by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to ramp up “defence” spending in the upcoming Budget. 

“Militarism cannot be seen as a side-issue by anyone concerned with poverty or the climate emergency,” he said.